Sydenham Road Improvements

A recent visitor to this area remarked to me recently, 'You know, Sydenham’s quite nice, when you get away from the high street.'
Now we have a chance to renew our high street and make criticism like this a thing of the past. The recent exhibition at 59 Sydenham Road is for a revamped town centre with £3m to be spent on renewing Sydenham Road and a further £330,000 on Sydenham Station Approach.

The consultation period will come to an end in January when Lewisham’s Mayor & Cabinet decide whether to push ahead with the scheme. If the go-ahead is confirmed, then we should expect work to commence in the summer of 2010.
If the project is confirmed, then we could have a high street that we (and our visitors) are proud of. Let’s hope so.

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The Sydenham Mosaic Project

Thorpes’ residents Valerie Kelly and Robert Side have a vision for Sydenham – one in which the Naborhood Centre, next to the post office, is refurbished and embellished with a mural representing scenes from Sydenham life. In June, at the Sydenham Assembly, Valerie gave a presentation about the project and made a successful pitch for £10,000 from the Mayor’s Fund. Now an anonymous donor has generously offered to match this figure with a further £10,000. The chosen artist, Oliver Budd, is a second generation mosaic artist whose father had studios in the area. Oliver has just been elected President of the British Association of Modern Mosaicists and his work is nationally and internationally known. His brief has been to celebrate the history and achievements of Sydenham while acknowledging its diversity. To create the artwork will cost £50,000; to prepare the front of the building will cost £2,000.
In November an organisation called “The Sydenham Mosaic Project” was formed to oversee the consultation and funding process.
More information will be available at the Thorpes Residents AGM and in the Sydenham Society Newsletter.
Please feel free to ‘phone Valerie on 020 8778 4775 if you would like to discuss the project further, or find out more about it.
Annabel McLaren

Local Rail Services – It’s Good News & Bad News!

For years, this part of south London has struggled to ensure that its rail services are on par with the rest of the capital. At long last we are within grasp of achieving this goal – but there’s bad news as well as good.

Here’s the good news:

• Transport for London (TfL) is already running the stations between New Cross Gate and West Croydon. This means that all local stations, including Sydenham, are now staffed throughout the day “from first to last train” meaning a far safer and more secure environment for passengers. 
• TfL plan a complete refurbishment of Sydenham station including new indicator boards, increased CCTV and new tannoy system. 
• Lewisham council are currently consulting on a £320,000 renovation of Sydenham Station Approach which will greatly improve access to the station. 
• On January 2 2010, Oystercard PAYG will be introduced on all London suburban train lines. 
• Before the end of 2010, all platforms along the line will be lengthened so that 10 carriage (rather than 8 carriage) trains to and from London Bridge can be accommodated. 
• In May 2010, the long-anticipated East London Line will start, giving us 8 trains per hour in each direction between Dalston Junction in the north and West Croydon and Crystal Palace in the south. 
• In 2015, our line will become part of the Thameslink service, so that four trains per hour which currently terminate at London Bridge will instead continue through north London giving direct trains from Sydenham to key destinations such as Blackfriars, Farringdon and St Pancras International (for the Eurostar). 

And here’s the Bad News

• In mid December, direct services to and from Charing Cross will be axed – all trains will start and terminate at London Bridge. 
• From May 2010, off-peak and evening services to and from London Bridge will be cut by one third – from 6 trains per hour to 4 trains per hour. 

These cuts rob us of the excellent rail services this area deserves. Sign the petition against the cuts at: http://nototraincuts.notlong.com

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Earlsthorpe Mews 'Live In It' Campaign

The “Live In It” campaign has been set up by residents from Earlsthorpe Mews who are concerned with the appalling state of Sydenham Mews (the name for both Queensthorpe & Earlsthorpe Mews), the alleyway that runs parallel to Sydenham Road behind the shops. “Mews” is a rather grand name for what is an unlit, largely unpaved, rubbish-strewn alley. The root cause of all the problems associated with the mews is that it is unregistered land (the Land Registry has no details of ownership) and the council refuses to “adopt” it. Therefore the alley is left to its fate and has become a sanctuary for fly-tippers, drug-takers, drunks, burglars and vermin. As Sydenham Mews is within the Thorpes CA, and with the proposed enhancements to the High Street, the “Live In It” campaign hopes that all stakeholders (residents of Earlsthorpe & Queensthorpe Roads and residents and traders of Sydenham Mews) will get involved in our campaign. Please visit: www.sydenhammews.blog.com for further information.

What’s going on in Mayow Park?

The last year has been a period of change for Mayow Park, with more change to come in 2010! Work has now started on the preparation of the site for the new clubhouse for the Mayow Park Bowls Club, to the east of the bowling green. Planning permission was given in July, after objections from the Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) and the Sydenham Society were withdrawn. It was felt that the relocation of the bowls club would enable Envirowork to achieve their plan for cricket in the park, key to which is the refurbishment of the Pavilion.
In early summer we learned that Envirowork had received support from the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for funding to restore the cricket square, to be followed by work on the Pavilion. The project will be in three stages. Stage 1, beginning in spring 2010, will be the restoration of a square of 12 pitches to meet ECB minimum standards. Stage 2 will be the temporary renovation of the existing Pavilion plus the construction of a shelter on the boundary edge for storage.
Stage 3 will be the refurbishment and extension of the Pavilion to provide improved changing facilities and showers.
In August we heard that £75,000 had been obtained from the Playbuilder Fund for an area for 10-14 year olds. The funds will become available in April 2010.
In November Groundwork were commissioned to produce a Masterplan for the park. This is now out for consultation and can be viewed at Sydenham Library or downloaded from the Groundwork website at: www.groundwork.org.uk/london The deadline for responses is January 29th 2010.
FOMP is pleased to learn that Envirowork has received permission to expand its activities on the old depot site. They will now be able to erect the ‘Seaside Garden’ originally built for the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show.
Finally, those with access to the internet can keep up-to-date with events in the park by going to
www.mayowpark.wordpress.com and logging onto the Mayow Park blog, compiled by Emma Tarling.
Hilary Jarrett, Chair, FOMP.